THE ART AND LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM NICHOLSON – SIMON MARTIN TALK. CHAIRED BY SAVILIAN JOHN GILL
To coincide with the Savile Club’s loan of a painting by its former member Sir William Nicholson to the major exhibition of his work at Pallant House Gallery in Chichester, its Director Simon Martin will present an illustrated lecture on the artist’s remarkable life and work. It will explore the artist’s extraordinary creativity in different media from bold ‘Beggarstaff’ poster designs and iconic woodcut prints (several of which are displayed in the Club) to dazzling still lifes, evocative views of the Downland landscape and insightful portraits.
Simon Martin has written numerous books on British art and artists, including on Glyn Philpot, John Piper, Eduardo Paolozzi, John Minton and thematic studies such as ‘Drawn to Nature: Gilbert White and the Artists’ (on which he spoke at the Savile Club in 2024). He is the co-editor of a new monograph on Nicholson, published to coincide with the exhibition.
John Gill chairs the Savile Club Art Committee. Now retired, he has spent four decades working with visual artists as director and curator in galleries and arts agencies in the public sector. He was founding chairman and board member of several arts charities across the UK, and author of books and articles about arts and culture. In 2015/16 he held a Visiting Fellowship at Harvard where he continued his ongoing research into theatrical portraiture in the 18th and 19th centuries. Away from artists’ studios, he is generally to be found in concert halls and opera houses indulging his passion for music.